


Making Good

by thegirlgrey



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Slow Build, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-12
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2019-06-09 05:36:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15260556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegirlgrey/pseuds/thegirlgrey
Summary: Sesshoumaru makes good on his debts. Kagome makes good on her promises. Some will call it a matter of pride, and others will say that it is about honor. Whatever it is, it will change both of their lives forever.





	1. First Debt

**Author's Note:**

> I started this many, many years ago. I hope to finish it, but didn't want to wait to post it. I have taken quite a few liberties (I never did like how Kagome was always so dependent on Inuyasha, even toward the end). I shift POV between Kagome and Sesshoumaru a bit.

The first time Kagome met Sesshoumaru, he tried to kill her. The second time she happened to meet him, he tried to kill her. The third time was pretty much the same as the fourth and the fifth and the six. He tried to cut her head clean off her shoulders. But it’s not like she didn’t understand his wanting to end her life. She had inadvertently cut off his arm via his own brother wielding the sword his father jibed him out of. ...and she did try to purify him once or twice.So it’s not like she deserved the close calls at the end of those perfectly manicured poison nails of his, but she was a firm believer in second chances… or seventh chances as it was.

She stared blankly at the demon lord walking steadily toward her. Her body was as rigid as steel. She weighed her options. He’d kill her before she would get even two feet away from the spot her feet were rooted to. He’d kill her before the scream for help left her lips. He’d kill her before she’d blink long enough to break her terrified stare. She forced herself to stop shaking. She raised her hands slowly in front of her, palms open. She shivered as golden eyes swept over her body as he continued to move closer to her and to the well where she just climbed up from. She chose to come back early, just to die?

“Lord Sesshoumaru.” 

Kagome bowed her head slightly before forcing a smile on her face, folding her hands in front of her to stop their trembling.

“Inuyasha’s wench, follow me.”

She felt her body flinch at the word wench. Anger crept into her voice.

“Follow me what?”

He stopped in his tracks and sent an ice cold glare over his shoulder. She felt a tremor start to rush up her spine.

“Follow me or die.”

She immediately swallowed as he started to walk away again. She started to berate herself in her mind. Why the hell did she get so worked up about the word wench? It wasn’t the first time he called her that, and it probably wouldn’t be the last if he didn’t kill her for not following him. But he could at least use a little more of the manners he demanded everyone else around him to have. 

“A please and thank you wouldn’t kill you," she muttered as she sprinted after him.

He was already at the edge of the forest and was walking into its dense foliage. She struggled to keep up with him. She guessed that she had walked almost twenty minutes before he came to a stop and finally turned to her.

“Rin is ill. Heal her.”

Kagome blinked. He gestured to where Jaken was nervously glaring at the sleeping girl, before training his big toad eyes on her.

“Lord Sesshoumaru! Step away from that human filth! She will purify yo-”

Kagome ground her foot into his pale green face.

“The only one I’ll purify here is you!”

Sesshoumaru took no notice of his incapacitated vassal. Instead, he turned on his heel, walked to the base of a nearby tree, and sat down with more grace that someone sitting in dirt should have. Kagome sighed but made her way toward the sleeping bundle of a girl. She didn’t have to look very far the see the problem. The poor thing was a green as Jaken. 

“What has she been eating lately?”

Sesshoumaru didn’t reply. He just looked at her with annoyance, like the answer to her question was obvious and it was too troublesome for him to even answer her. Luckily Jaken got his head back in order.

“Berries from the bushes around camp.”

Kagome looked around and frowned. It was too early for them to ripen fully and most of the berries were still green. She frowned down at the girl, before shaking her awake gently. 

“Rin, Rin wake up.”

The girl opened her eyes and Kagome steeled herself from the pain in them.

“Kagome-chan. I’m so happy to see you. Is Shippo-chan here to play? I don’t feel good.”

The miko shook her head no and brushed the girl’s hair away from her face.

“No Rin, you can play another day. You need to rest. But before you go back to sleep can you tell me what color I’m wearing?”

Kagome lifted one pleat in her skirt and let the little girl take a handful of the green fabric to see the color before letting go and settling herself in her beddings once again.

“Purple.”

“And what color is Lord Sesshoumaru pattern on his kimono?”

She watched as the little girl smiled at the mention of her savior.

“Purple.”

Kagome nodded and continued to smooth her hair until she fell asleep again this time in a tight ball that wrapped around Kagome's knees. She shifted the girl aside until she could stand up again. The demon lord watched her with curious eyes. She fought back a nervous shutter.

“Dichromacy.”

Jaken looked aghast, turning from her then to his master.

“How can it be cured?” Sesshoumaru demanded more than asked.

Kagome took a steadying breath, “It can’t be.”

Sesshoumaru rose to his full height, “How did she acquire it?”

He towered over Jaken who was trembling in fear. Somehow Kagome felt bad for deceiving Sesshoumaru like this, but Jaken deserved to has his life shaken up a bit after calling her filth.

“It's hereditary.”

Sesshoumaru had his hand on his sword, and Jaken threw himself at his feet begging for mercy. Kagome couldn’t play along any longer. She could feel the anger rolling off of the lord in waves, and she knew blood was going to be shed very soon. 

“Though there are different types, Rin is lucky she can see every other color but red and green.”

Shocked golden eyes met hers, and Kagome found herself laughing at him instead of shivering in fear. The confusion in them was just too hilarious. He watched as she clutched at her stomach as she tried to heave air back into her lungs. Jaken tried to yell an insult at her, but the flat end of his masters’ still drawn blade sent him crashing into the woods.

“Explain, Miko.”

Her laughter was completely cut off with his harsh command.

“Dichromacy is color blindness. Rin has red and green color blindness. Sometimes people who have it can see red and greens as one color. My brother sees them both as dark blue. Rin sees them both as purple.” 

After a heavy silence, Sesshoumaru sheathed his sword and gestured to the girl. He wanted to know what happened to her.

“She has a stomach ache from eating unripe berries. It’s not fatal, but it could have been. Some berries around here are poisonous if not eaten in the right seasons. Picking them and eating them without knowing when they are safe to eat can be dangerous, especially if you’re color blind.” 

Sesshoumaru glared at Jaken who had just found his way back into their campsite. She felt bad for the little imp, well, almost.

“I have medicine for her, but it’s in my bag back by the well.”

He turned around and started walking towards were they had came from almost an hour before.

“Jaken watch over Rin _better_ than you have been doing as of late.”

This cold shiver she could not hide. The Master and his vassal would have a discussion about bad babysitting skills when he got back, and Kagome was glad she wouldn’t have to see it. She had a feeling it would be very painful.

“You have great knowledge of medicine.”

Kagome was so startled by his compliment that she tripped on a root and fell to the forest floor catching herself at the last second on a low hanging branch.

“And very bad knowledge of gravity.”

She scowled at him.

“I want to be a doctor in my own time.”

He didn’t answer her. He just kept walking. And Kagome was fine with that. He either scared her or pissed her off. But her anger got the better of her as they finally entered the familiar clearing.

“Why did you ask me for help? Don’t you hate me?”

She stared at him as he watched her fume. When it didn’t look like he would answer her, she passed him up and went to her bag. She started digging through it. He might piss her off, but she wouldn’t let Rin suffer for masters’ fault. 

“I came to you because you would let no harm come to Rin."

She spun around to meet his impassive face, clutching the mint colored bottled to her stomach. 

“And I do not hate _you_ … I hate all humans.”

There he went again, complementing her and then spitting in her face in the same breath. She forced herself not to roll her eyes. It really shouldn’t surprise her. Inuyasha did it all the time to her. It proved that they were related after all. She held the bottle out to him.

“Make her take a cap full when you get back and another every hour until her stomach is settled.”

He eyed the plastic but took it anyways.

“I owe you a debt.”

Once again Kagome found herself going stiff. She felt Sesshoumaru staring at her intently, and it made her nervous. Her question came out more bitter than she wanted.

“I thought my life was my payment.”

He sneered at her and turned away, “I do not give away my favors lightly. But it is of no concern of mine if you choose to waste your debt on something as useless as your own life, wench.”

Anger clouded her judgment, and before she knew it, she took a step forward and grabbed his arm. She realized her mistake the second his youkai flared, but she stood her ground.

“Stop calling me wench!”

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes at her, and Kagome felt her composure beginning to slip under his icy glare. Just as she was about to start apologizing (much more humbly than Jaken had earlier), he nodded.

“Our business here is over. Goodbye… Miko.”

She pulled her hands away gently and watched him walk away into the woods. She sunk to the ground and slumped into the old wood of the bone eater’s well. She lifted her face to the heavens and let out a loud plea.

“I need a vacation!”

“Didn’t you just have one?”

Her eyes snapped to the smug looking hanyou, barely catching a glimpse of her friends beyond him.

“SIT BOY.”

Kagome was pleased to see the birds roosting in the nearby tress take flight at the violent shaking of the ground.


	2. Next Time

Kagome forgot how to live. Well, her body forgot how to function to keep her alive. She stopped breathing, and she knew that she should start again because she really liked being alive. But she feared that one small breath might shatter her completely.

 

She eyed the tiny plastic bottle. How funny that such a simple thing would probably lead to her death. If she took it from the small hands out stretched to her, Inuyasha would go berserk. Ape-shit mad. He would go off on her. She could hear it now.

_Who the hell in their right mind would willingly follow the demon who tried to kill her more than once into the forest to kami knows where? Who the hell would go with said demon alone, with no protection of any sort?_

Oh, that’s right, Kagome.

But if she refused to take the bottle, Sesshoumaru might actually kill her this time. He would not allow Rin to be hurt in any way. Refusing Rin’s token of thanks would be like Kagome signing her own death warrant. But as the miko from the future’s lungs screamed out in protest, she came to one simple conclusion. After all was said and done, she would have still followed Sesshoumaru and helped Rin. Inuyasha could scream until he was as red in the face as his Fire Rat robes, but it wouldn’t change what Kagome felt in her heart. She had done the right thing, and Rin was trying to do the same by returning her medicine.

Kagome gingerly accepted the out stretched bottle of stomach anti-acid and took a deep breath. She felt the rush of fresh oxygen enter her body just as she heard Inuyasha’s breath leave his.

“You son of a bi-”

Kagome quickly turned to face the raging hanyou.

“Inuyasha, don’t make me say it.”

The hanyou opened his mouth, took one look at her fierce glare, and snapped it shut with enough force for an audible clack to be heard. Kagome sighed; at least his pride would keep her own humiliation at bay. Kagome turned around and kneeled in front of Rin ignoring the amused look on the Lord of the West’s face.

“Rin, I’m so happy to see you are feeling better.”

The little girl gave her a huge grin, “Thanks to you Kagome-chan. If Sesshoumaru-sama hadn’t found you, I don’t know what would have happened.”

Kagome smiled at the girl and placed a hand on her head, peeking above it to see golden eyes staring down at her coolly. Sesshoumaru did not like being second best in anyone’s eyes. She gulped.

“I’m sure you would have been just fine with Sesshoumaru-sama looking after you.”

The girl nodded vigorously, “he’s teaching me how to find better berries.”

Kagome fought down the laugh that the image of a regal lord picking berries brought to mind, but a smile still broke out on her face, “I bet he’s excellent at it.”

The girl spun around to beam a smile at her demon lord, “He’s excellent at everything!”

Sesshoumaru simply brandished his hand toward the two headed dragon walking away in the distance.

“Come Rin.”

The girl nodded but did not follow her master as he turned away. Instead, she wrapped her arms around Kagome as hard as she could, and Kagome pulled her tight against her chest.

“Tell Shippo-chan I said hi.”

Then the little girl was scampering toward the two headed dragon. Kagome smiled after Rin, her eyes crossing paths with the golden eyed demon.

“Miko.”

She nodded her head sharply once in recognition.

“Lord Sesshoumaru.”

She watched them disappear into the distance and thought about disappearing into the ground. She could feel the anger rolling off of Inuyasha. She turned around slowly with a nervous smile on her face.

“You are the STUPIDEST person I know! He tried to kill you! He would have killed you!”

Kagome had a lot of patience. She had to with Inuyasha as her best friend. And she put up with a lot of his shit. But this was uncalled for. Her own anger rose up to meet his and from the startled look and low string of curses, Inuyasha saw that Kagome was clearly the better master of her rage.

“First of all, you tried to kill me when we first met. Second, he wouldn’t have hurt me. Thirdly, stupidest isn’t even a word!”

She huffed as her voice rose to an impressive half yell/scream. It was loud enough to flatten Inuyasha’s ears against his head. But when he opened his mouth, his voice was just as loud as hers.

“Are you serious? He wouldn’t hurt you?! He’d kill you just to watch you die. He doesn’t need a reason Kagome! He’s tried before, and that bastard will try again!”

Inuyasha’s words rang in her ears, and she could only pull one thought from the resounding truth.

“I know that he could kill me at any time for any reason. But he didn’t. I knew he wouldn’t. Rin was sick, and he needed help. He put his pride aside to ask me for my help. He’s too honorable to kill the person that just helped him.”

Inuyasha stared at her dumbly.

“I CANNOT believe you just called Sesshoumaru honorable.”

Kagome saw Miroku and Sango walking towards them out of the corner of her eye.

“Your brother-”

Inuyasha threw he hands up in the air dramatically.

“HALF-BROTHER!!”

Kagome frowned when she saw Miroku tilt his head to the side and quickened his pace to his friends.

“Well, what seems to be the problem here?”

Inuyasha glared at Kagome. She glared right back. She was not wrong. She wasn’t.

“That WENCH went off ALONE with Sesshoumaru!”

Sango walked over to Kagome’s side and put an arm around her shoulders. It wasn’t to comfort her, but to restrain her. If Kagome got called a wench one more time today, somebody was going to get purified.

“I was helping Rin! She was sick. She could have died!”

Miroku gave her a gentle smile before turning to watch Inuyasha pace in a wide circle while he pulled at his hair.

“Inuyasha, you can’t fault Kagome for doing what she has always done. If not for her caring and compassionate ways, you would not be with us here today.”

Kagome smirked as Inuyasha’s ears pulled back, clearly unhappy with the truth he heard.

“But Inuyasha is right Kagome; going off with Lord Sesshoumaru unprotected is reckless. He could have easily harmed you to get at Inuyasha.”

Kagome felt something snap.

“If there is one thing that I know about Lord Sesshoumaru, it is that he is honorable.”

Inuyasha started to talk, but Kagome cut him off with short, angry words.

“He. Is. Honorable. Lord Sesshoumaru would never attack me to hurt you. It’s too underhanded. It’s too cowardly. And he is not a coward.”

She sighed heavily, “But you are right. I shouldn’t have gone off with him alone. I’ll be careful next time. ”

Inuyasha was in front of her before she could even blink. His finger was millimeters from jabbing her in the face.

“THERE ISN’T GOING TO BE A NEXT TIME!”

The one thing that pissed Kagome off more than being called wench was being told what she could or couldn’t do.

“SIT BOY!”

Miroku cringed as Inuyasha’s face planted into the field they were standing in. Kagome stalked away where she left her bike and trusty backpack against a tree. Sango followed with a whisper on her lips.

“He isn’t going to be getting ramen for a very long time.” 


	3. Helping Hand

Kagome found the bush that she was looking for with ease. The dark purple flowers easily caught her eye in the warm early afternoon sun. She looked up at the trees surrounding her now. Their leaves would soon lose their green color and fall from their homes. She sighed as she reached down to pluck several little leaves from the late blooming violet plant. Just as she was about to place the leaves in her mouth, a smooth cold hand wrapped around her fist like iron, binding her movements still. She heard herself gasp in shock as pure gold eyes stared down at her disdainfully.

* * *

Sesshoumaru had been watching the Miko since she entered the forest given his half breed of a brother’s name. She had interrupted his thoughts with her wandering. He was tempted to leave her and continue on with his mission, but he stopped and watched her as she walked. She would help influence the confrontation with Inuyasha. She seemed to be the only one able to calm the hanyou and to keep his own anger in check. He silently berated himself. He did not need a limitation for his anger. He was Sesshoumaru. He was master of his own emotions.

But as he turned back to Kagome, he noticed that the human was not in control of hers. The wind shifted and brought her scent, the bright scent of a priestess, to his keen nose. But it was tainted with salt and pain and… Inuyasha. He merely watched as she stared longingly up at the heavens before reaching to pluck leaves from a plant that he knew fairly well. Rin had almost made the same mistake recently. But the Miko was not Rin. She did not belong under his care. She did not belong to him. She was Inuyasha’s wench. …she was Inuyasha’s helpful wench. With her powers and shard finding abilities and not to mention her strange medicines, she was an ally. And she was an ally that he still had use of. He sighed as he left his safely hidden position to stay the hand bringing the poison to her mouth.

“Sesshoumaru-sama?”

He peered down at the foliage in her hand and then turned his cold eyes on her.

* * *

Kagome fought the urge she had to pull free of his grasp and run away from him. She knew that you never turned your back on a feral dog because he would chase you down. She knew Sesshoumaru wasn’t a feral dog but feral was close enough to cold, ruthless killer in her mind that she stayed put. She hadn’t seen any sign of Sesshoumaru in nearly a month. Their last meeting left her with an almost empty bottle of Mylanta, a raging Hanyou, and a headache. She fought the nerves clawing at her throat by swallowing down hard.

* * *

“Are humans so weak that they feel suicide an appropriate escape from pain?”

Sesshoumaru watched as the shock in her eyes turned into blindly hot anger. His head pulled back to lean away from her glare. It was impressive. He could feel it spark against him. What an amusing Miko. He could cut her down with a flick of his wrist and yet she dared to defy him.

“I wasn’t trying to kill myself! I would never try to kill myself! What on earth possessed you to think I was trying to kill myself!?”

He pulled her wrist in front of her face, reminding her of the untapped poison she held in her hands. She blinked at it briefly before turning her gaze back to him. He watched as she titled her head ever so slightly to the side with confusion in her wide, red rimmed eyes her anger completely forgotten at the moment.

“I smelt your sorrow on the wind. I see it on your face now. You smell of Inuyasha. I would only assume that you two had a quarrel and it distressed you enough to-”

She ripped her wrist from his hand but did not move from their closeness. Anger, wild hot and ragged, flared across her aura again. This time she brought her face closer to him with her voice verging into hysterics.

“End my life?! Over a fight?! With Inuyasha?! I fight with him every day! If he distressed me enough to kill myself, I would be dead a thousand times over by now!!”

He opened his mouth to agree and comment on how her fighting form needed vast improvement, but her now smoldering eyes kept his mouth firmly shut as another wave of her anger washed over him. This time it was tinged with a sizzling zing. Her Miko powers were rising unconsciously to defend her.

“You can shove your assumptions up your ass if you think that I would kill myself because Inuyasha upset me!”

He fought the smirk that rose on his lips, not allowing it to surface. She was amusing with her anger and her foul mouth. At least she wasn’t as stupid as most humans were. Pain was a part of the world; it would always be. It made you strong. But as his gaze fell on the plant once again, he wasn’t so sure.

“Then why do you hold belladonna leaves in your hand Miko?”

She shoved her other hand into his face, showing him a very raw burn on her palm. He recognized that this had been the source of her pain and tears. He had smelt burnt flesh, but he dismissed it as the funeral pyre of a recently deceased villager. The Miko would reek of burnt flesh because it was her job to help the soul into passing. But that did not answer his question of why she held the plant with the intention of eating it or why she smelled of Inuyasha.

“Your stupid brot… half-brother,” she amended at his raised eyebrow, “starting swinging his sword around Kaede’s hut when he was provoked by Shippo. I didn’t watch where I put my hands when I ducked, and I burnt myself. “

“Hn.”

She stared up at his blank face for a beat before narrowing her eyes at him.

“Why the hell would you think I was trying to commit suicide?”

“Belladonna is poisonous when swallowed.”

She gave him a stern frown and a look that he did not like. It accused him of being simpleminded. He simply let one silver eyebrow arch on his face asking her to elaborate because he did not trust his voice to not growl at her insinuating look.

“I wasn’t going to swallow it. When chewed in small doses, the salvia mixes with the plants toxins. It makes your mouth numb for a while, but it leaves you with a salve that heals burns and helps aching joints.”

He looked down at the leaves with new interest. He plucked them from her hand with his lone one and glared at her to stop her protests. He needed her to be able to talk to Inuyasha on his behalf, and it seemed that the half breed was making his way to Kagome’s scent. He let poison slip from his fingers as he crushed the leaves until they were a lumpy mash. He smeared the slave onto her wound as she let out a faint gasp as her Miko powers purified the poison on contact. He peered at her hand and looked past the bright green glob to see that her wound was almost completely healed. He doubted it would even leave behind a scar.

* * *

Kagome’s heartbeat had tripled when he pushed his poison laced salve into her palm. The slight stinging she felt from her powers purifying the poison hadn’t hurt nearly as bad as the burn itself. She looked up to Sesshoumaru to see a smirk cross his face as he admired his handiwork. She realized that he was still holding her hand, rubbing the balm into her now cooling wound in soft circles. Her heartbeat sped up even faster. She was about to pull her hand away, a thank you on her lips, when she heard her name being shouted through the clearing she had found the plant in. She turned to find Inuyasha rushing towards them with his sword drawn. Sesshoumaru did not move from his place, though his thumb stilled to rest in the center of her palm. He suddenly squeezed her hand tightly causing her eyes to rise back up to his.

“I have assisted you, Miko. You shall return the gesture.”

She nodded hesitantly as Inuyasha ran through the clearing.

“I must speak with you… and him.”

Kagome let her eyes fall to Inuyasha and then back to Sesshoumaru. When a friend asked you for help, you helped. And when Sesshoumaru asked for your assistance, you assisted with no questions asked. She pulled her hand away from his grasp and turned to face Inuyasha who was mere feet away from them.

“Inuyasha, Sit!”

Kagome had the heart to turn her head to the side and flinch as the hanyou’s body was crushed into the earth. Sesshoumaru merely smirked as he flicked the remaining green salve from his fingers.

* * *

Kagome’s eyes darted from one person to the next in the dimly lit room that was Kaede’s small hut. She played with the edge of her skirt as she felt the hair on the back of her neck rise. The brother's glaring match was making her extremely nervous. She looked away from Inuyasha to turn to Kaede who sat across from her. The old Miko showed no signs of unease, and Kagome tried to gleam some of her calm. But as she looked to the demon lord sitting at her right, her calm evaporated. Why the hell had she said yes to helping him especially since she had no idea what he needed help with! She turned back to her left to see Inuyasha glaring at him with open hostility. She had assured him that Sesshoumaru had not hurt her with his poison, just sped up her healing process. Even after showing him her now slightly reddened, no longer raw palm, and having Kaede tell him that Sesshoumaru had indeed helped her (though coming into contact with such poison even in small doses more than a few times would probably cause her to fall ill) he was not happy that Sesshoumaru had helped her. Though she did point out that she wouldn’t have needed the old brother’s help if he hadn’t gotten her hurt in the first place. His glare had only grown more heated as Sesshoumaru’s dropped below the depths of freezing. And Kagome was stuck in the middle because she owed Sesshoumaru. She bowed her head and sighed. She was getting nowhere in the clearing because of their arguing. It had taken two more sit commands before she coaxed Inuyasha back to Kaede’s hut. Kagome had hoped that they would at least not kill each other in her house.

“Lord Sesshoumaru," Kaede started, "you have come to ask a favor of Kagome and Inuyasha.”

“Yes.”

Inuyasha’s glare had lightened as his ears perked up at the sound of his brother’s voice.

“I am sure that they are willing to hear what it is you ask of them.”

Sesshoumaru's voice was smooth, just like the cold stone Kagome was sure he was made of.

“I do not ask it of them. They are indebted to me.”

Kagome heard the growl rise in Inuyasha’s throat and shot him a look that said shut up or sit down. He immediately slumped in his seat and crossed his arms as his glare darkened again.

“They are problems in my lands on the northern border. It is too perilous for Rin to travel with me. She will need looking after. I will entrust her to Kagome while I am away.”

Kagome’s eyes shot to his face. It was blank and unreadable. She fought to control her mouth, but it was too late.

“You trust me to take care of Rin?”

He leveled his golden eyes at her. She knew that he did not like repeating himself, but she needed to make sure she wasn't hearing things.

“You will not let harm come to Rin. And you show knowledgeable skill in medicine and in the art of care giving with your kitsune. Jaken is… not my first choice of guardian. I would rather she be left in your care. ”

She smiled at the dog demon, but she shouldn’t have put forth the effort or let her heart swell with pride.

“But you are far too clumsy and weak to protect her. So Inuyasha will act as her protector while I am away.”

Kagome was glaring at the floor now. Clumsy and weak! Who the hell purified whole demons the size of mountains? So what if she tripped over a few rocks every once and a while!? She could shoot an arrow with complete accuracy while carrying Shippo in her arms! She could burn every one of those silky gorgeous strands of hair on his head right off in an instant!

Anger welled up inside her and the two males in the room immediately stopped their arguing to watch the Miko. Kagome pulled her fisted hands into her lap and gritted her teeth together. Kagome would show him weak! She lifted her head to the Demon Lord. Her anger turned her glare to a new level of scorching heat that Inuyasha could only dream of. Sesshoumaru’s eyes shown with amusement.

“Of course, we’ll look after her, Lord Sesshoumaru. You didn’t need to ask.”

Her words were tight and clipped. She barely got them out. Inuyasha started to complain, but one look from Kagome had his ears lying flat against his skull. Kaede didn’t seem to notice. She smiled happily, eye all crinkled.

“Well then, that’s settled.”

When Sesshoumaru returned a short while later with his charges in tow, he was taken back at how vast the Miko’s aura had changed. The anger he had felt in the older priestess’s hut, while amusing, was astounding in its intensity. Now, her anger was nowhere to be found. He watched as she scooped up the little girl in a tight hug, giggles spilling from both females. He broke up their reunion.

“Rin.”

The girl untangled herself and skipped happily to him.

“Yes, Lord Sesshoumaru?”

“I will leave you in the Miko and the hanyou’s care. You are to look after Ah and Un.”

Rin nodded her head vigorously. “Yes my lord!”

Suddenly, the girl was obstructed by a bushy copper tail. The kitsune it seemed had missed her as well.

“Rin-chan! I haven’t seen you in forever and now you get to stay with us for a while! Isn’t it great?”

Sesshoumaru decided to take his leave, but Inuyasha wouldn’t let him go peacefully.

“Don’t go off and forget about the kid.”

He fought the urge to snort.

“I will not.”

Inuyasha snorted for him, “Good, 'cause Kagome’s attached enough as it is.”

As Sesshoumaru made his way out of the village, he now knew why the Miko’s anger from earlier was nowhere for him to find. It was because she was truly happy to take care of Rin. She cared for the child. Sesshoumaru wondered why it eased his mind to see what he already knew.

 


	4. Teacher's Pet

Kagome sat and watched as Shippo and Rin played in the meadow. She put the herbs she was gathering back down in her basket and sat in the cool grass. She shaded her eyes with her hand to look off in the distance were Inuyasha was helping to work a new drainage field with some of the villagers. The hanyou refused to search for the jewel shard with the energetic young girl, the grumpy vessel, and the two headed dragon that liked to chew on his robes in tow. And Kagome was content with staying put. Kaede needed her help to get ready for the winter.

The young Miko had her heart set on making as much medicine for the villagers as she could as a preemptive strike against the bitter winter and sicknesses that would follow. She had seen such horrible things in the feudal error, and demons could only account for barely half of it. The simple illnesses that could be cured by just having clean drinking water and better protection from the elements made her heart heavy. But it wasn’t her place to suggest wells and relining walls of huts and proper footwear. She had already done irreversible damage to the very existence of time. She had to tread lightly. She couldn’t leave any more of an imprint than she already had. But as she turned again to face the laughing children, she couldn’t bring herself to feel guilty for messing up timelines. She couldn’t feel guilty for gaining the friends she had, or the children she cared for. She could feel nothing but overwhelming sadness every time she thought about having to leave them.

Kaede had asked months ago to talk with her in private. Kagome was surprised to find that she already knew what the older priestess would tell her.

_“When Naraku is struck down and the jewel is whole again-”_

_“I’ll go back to my own time,” Kagome cut her mentor off with a sad smile._

_The older woman gave her a wrinkled frown._

_“We do not know that for certain.”_

_Kagome shook her head quietly, “It brought me here. And I think that it’s going to send me back. If we defeat Naraku, my purpose here is served.”_

_Kaede didn’t try to convince her otherwise. She had seen the jewel, known it, and known they way it worked. She couldn’t fight the truth or the quiet resignation in Kagome’s eyes._

_“You will be missed child.”_

_Kagome tried to hold back the tears and managed to keep them at bay with a sniffle._

_“I’ll miss all of you too.”_

Laughter pulled her out of her sour thoughts. She watched as the children played with the bottle of bubbles she had brought back from her time. She could at least leave pieces of herself behind. The others would have to care for the children. Shippo would have a small army of protectors, and Rin had Sesshoumaru who was a force in and of himself. Shippo would grow into his own powers, but Rin didn’t have that luxury. She would always depend on someone stronger. In that instant, Kagome had two thoughts; if she could find a bow to fit Rin’s size and how fast she could purify the poison whip coming after her once Lord Sesshoumaru found out that Kagome had started to train Rin as a Miko.

* * *

“Well no one could fault her for being preemptive.”

The hanyou scoffed at the monk, “I can fault her for being stupid.”

Miroku could only shrug his shoulders as he watched Sango and Kagome teach Rin how to aim for further targets. He was relieved to find that the child had no spiritual powers whatsoever. Because he didn’t know how telling Sesshoumaru that his child was a priestess would have ended. He still didn’t want to know how telling the daiyoukai that the Miko had taught Rin to use a bow would end. Especially since Kagome had sealed several arrows with her purifying powers and given them to Rin "just in case". He looked up to the setting sun. It had been almost a week since the Demon Lord had left his charge behind. Luckily the toad busied himself with this and that was completely unaware of the Miko’s coaching. The monk sighed and leaned against his staff. It would have helped if Rin didn’t excel at her lessons. The girl had keen eyes and good aim. Hopefully the same could be said of the Miko who would no doubt draw Sesshoumaru's attention and his anger.

* * *

Sesshoumaru had barely gotten into the village his half brother and his band of miscreants inhabited when he was met with an unfamiliar silence. He was used to the humans quieting when he neared them. He was in fact pleased when they ceased their noise. But this silence was heavy, weighted, and it made him uncomfortable. He kept his stride even and kept walking to where the old Miko had told him he would find his charge. They were loitering around that well again. It made the hair on his neck stand up when the priestess activated it. It only showed signs of power when she passed through it. And of course, the few times it erred and let the hanyou pass through. It was a strange thing that was of no use to him, and he wondered why the humans and the hanyou guarded its secrets from him. It was useless to the Demon Lord and therefore it was nothing.

He was pulled from thoughts when the familiar sound of a bow string was pulled taunt and the whistle of an arrow hummed through the air. He was before the source of the sound in an instant pulling startled gasps from the woman standing on either side of the girl holding the bow. He could feel the monk and Inuyasha tense behind him. He looked at the gleefully surprised child to the shocked Miko to her right. He eyed the bow clutched in Rin’s hands and to the arrow protruding in a tree yards away. It sat in perfect accuracy in the small inch wide notch carved there as a target.

“Miko, explain. _Now_.”

Sesshoumaru stared at the priestess with livid eyes, and he could see her hands clench tightly at her sides before she took a breath and stepped in front of Rin.

“I thought it would be a good idea to give Rin lessons, so she could protect herself.”

A growl rose in his chest, and he let is fissure out, his eyes narrowing at the now flustered Miko. She flailed her arms around her face in some ill gotten attempt to erase her words.

“NOT THAT YOU CAN’T PROTECT HER! I DIDN’T MEAN THAT AT ALL!"

At his raised brow she continued.

"I just meant, I meant that when you’re not around if she needs to she can defend herself, and she can hunt for her own food. I just wanted Rin to be able to depend on herself if she needs to. I just want her to be safe.”

He could smell the Miko's fear. It made her clean scent spike and become almost brighter. It tickled his nose. But other than her scent, she showed no signs of fear. Her head was held high and her hands stayed at her sides. Her posture was lax enough that it was passive (as it should be in his presence), but it was still rigid with what his mind could only answer as authority. He lifted an eyebrow at the human girl. She was peculiar in every way. Her hair, her clothing, her speech, even her very actions confused him at times. She was simply unique and annoyingly so. Instead of thinking deeper of the strange ways the Miko confused him, he decided to see what Rin had learned while he was away.

“Show me.”

Kagome stood silent for a moment before a smile broke over her face, her whole body relaxing easily as she turned back to Rin. The others in the clearing seemed to let out a baited breath. He turned to lift an eyebrow at his brother who had his sword raised a few inches from its sheath. He eyed the weapon and then his brother. The Hanyou let out an annoyed grunt and turned his head.

“Alright, this is the moment your been practicing for! You can do it, Rin!”

The little human child nodded and gave the Miko a wide grin before notching a new arrow and aiming for another target a few feet deeper into the woods than the last. It hit the wood with a resounding thunk. Like the other volley of arrows lodged in numerous trees, this arrow sat perfectly straight and on target.

“You are a fine marksman Rin.” The child beamed under his compliment. “The demon Slayer must be proud.”

“I had nothing to do with it," Sango stated as she looked over a new arrow, "I just made her the bow.”

Now both of his eyebrows rose involuntarily before he schooled them into a cool expression. The Miko stood behind her apprentice and beamed at him. He scowled.

“I see. It rings true the old saying, “Those who cannot do, teach.””

The Miko’s eyes promised pain and brimstone. His words had hit their mark. He had seen firsthand that her aim was terrible at best. He patted Rin on the head and motioned toward Ah-Un. The young girl skipped off to say her goodbyes, and Sesshoumaru was left with a fuming Miko. Now her powers sparked brightly against his skin. Such a strange creature.

“I guess the old saying is true, "You can’t teach an old dog new tricks."”

With a sharp inclination of her head, she walked off to where Rin was gathering her belongings. He stared after her. Inuyasha grunted next to him and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Thanks a lot asshole. You pissed her off.”

Sesshoumaru let one of his shoulder’s rise and fall gently.

“Keh, she cares about Rin. She just wanted to protect her.”

Sesshoumaru let his eyes drift lazily over to the tree line and the fading light.

“I am Rin’s protector.”

He glanced back in time to see Inuyasha’s eye roll.

“You protecting her, and Kagome teaching her to protect herself are two different things Sesshoumaru.”

With that the hanyou wandered off to say his goodbyes at well. The only difference that Sesshoumaru could identify was the fact that the Demon Lord would always be around and the Miko would not. 

 


	5. Staked Claimed

Sesshoumaru had passed by many battlefields without so much as glance. The carnage was always the same no matter what land the dead lay slain in. The smell differed from species to species but having cut down so many on such similar grounds had steeled him against the revolting stench of death and decay. But this particular battlefield captured his interest as certain smells registered in his mind. He smelt his brother’s mismatched group of warriors. The monk had been injured as well as the demon slayer though Inuyasha’s blood permeated more heavily. But none of these particular scents were what brought him to this blooded space of land.

He smelt her blood. That had piqued his curiosity. The hanyou was always adamant about “no one every laying a hand on Kagome,” yet her scent was all over the battlefield. As he stepped into the disarray, his eyes focused on the metal that glinted in the full moon’s light. Silver shuriken were embedded into the massive carcass of the centipede demon as well as a volley of arrows protruding from its neck. He smirked. Inuyasha might have diced it to within an inch of its life, but it was the Miko that sent it into the depths of hell. She didn’t need so much his brother's protection but his aid.

The wind switched and it brought her bright scent to his nose. He was before her in an instant. She sat against a cherry blossom tree in full bloom. He studied her as he waited for the girl to acknowledge his presence. The arm of her robe was slashed open and a blood soaked bandaged cut be seen through the tattered material. A small, angry red raised line curved across her cheek. But none of her wounds seemed to quell the peace and calm that the moon’s light cloaked her in. Her chest rose and fell as she took in a lungful of the tree’s fragrant blossoms. She smiled into the night.

“I told Inuyasha that I should have purified the body. The smell must be horrible by now.”

His gold eyes met two pools of chocolate brown that conveyed her calm and gleamed of triumph.

“I apologize if it offends you, Lord Sesshoumaru," she said as she tipped her head lightly and gestured to the tree and ground beside her. “We’re up wind from the carcass, and the cherry blossoms should help to cover up what you can still smell.”

He quirked his eyebrow but allowed himself to sink down beside her under the thick branches of the bursting pink tree. She gave him a small laugh.

“Inuyasha made us camp away as far as we were able to carry ourselves. If he can still moan about wanting to cut off his own nose because of the stench almost three miles away, I know it must be almost unbearable for you. ”

He looked off to where she had mentioned her camp to be.

“It could be arranged.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught her shaking her head and smiling at her lap.

“That’s what I said. If we walked anymore, I’m pretty sure we would have just passed out in the middle of the road.”

He glanced back at her arm and tried to see if any other wounds were inflicted upon her. But the miko’s dressing made it hard for him to fully scan her body. He mused that if she were wearing her normal ridiculously (verging on ludicrously) short kimono that he would be able to take stock of her more accurately. When his eyes failed, he moved onto his other senses. True to her word, he could still smell the decaying demon on the battlefield even if the wind brought fresh air to them. The tree’s sweet fragrance chased away the worst of it, and the Miko’s smell overpowered the rest. What his nose told him was of no help. He could smell her dried blood and the thin layer of sweat that covered her skin. She permeated calm. And it annoyed him that she showed no ounce of nervousness at his presence as she once had.

“It seems that you are becoming acquainted with my presence.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, but he merely raised his eyebrows in response. It was meant as a question, and she knew he wanted an answer. He stared at her until she gave a loud huff.

“I know I shouldn’t, but I trust you. I don’t think you would hurt me.”

Maybe it was the week’s worth of constant travel and the beginning onslaught of exhaustion that had weakened his control, but a low growl crept into his voice.

“Do not pretend to know what I am capable of, Miko.”

The rumble in his chest wasn’t meant as a scare tactic but a reminder of who he was and exactly what he was capable of. Kagome seemed to understand that.

“That’s why I said I _think_ that you wouldn’t hurt me.”

He studied her beaming smile. He felt annoyed all over again.

“Do not confuse my tolerance of you for anything other than a business arrangement.”

Her smiled seemed to double in its radiance. He cut off the annoyed growl in his throat.

“And if our arrangement would ever go south you know very well what I am capable of.”

Her eyes darted behind him where the demon’s corpse lay rotting.

Sesshoumaru had never fought the urge to roll his eyes so much in his long life. He would acknowledge that her fighting had gotten exponentially better, but he would not admit that to her at least not until she walked away from a battle without a hair out of place. And even then it would go against his very code to even tip his head in her direction let alone against the way of his people. To acknowledge a female in battle was the equivalent of laying claim to a mate. His brain screeched to a halt as he realized where his thoughts had led. Kagome and mate were a few too short sentences apart. Once again, he rationalized that the exhaustion and non-stop travel was wearing on him. He realized that Kagome had stopped her idle chatter and was looking at him with interest in those brown doe eyes. She had asked him a question, and he had yet to respond.

“There have been problems in my Eastern lands. I have been eliminating the root cause.”

She gave him a half smile that looked more like a quiet frown as she let her eyes roam over his face.

“I only asked because we haven’t seen you in a while. You’ve been traveling all this time?”

He didn’t answer her because he hadn’t needed too. In this state, she could see past the cool mask he wore. And he found that he didn’t care. He let his shoulders rest more heavily against the tree letting his armor that once felt so light rest weightily against the solid trunk. Kagome seemed to not care and turned her face to watch the wind whip the tall grass before them into soft swells and flows.

They sat in silence for a few precious minutes before he felt his eyes grow heavy. If he did not keep moving, he would not be able to fight sleep any longer.

“You have improved.”

Her smile was turned on him again, and he felt himself blink in its blinding presence.

“I guess so, but I still got hurt. Miroku and Sango still got hurt.”

He let one shoulder rise and fall; the armor pulling at his tired shoulders and back.

“You dealt the killing blow with minimal injuries.”

He immediately realized his mistake when her eyes shot open wide in an incredulous look. It was the same look that she gave to his dim witted half brother when he did something uncharacteristically kind.

“Are you trying to give me a compliment?”

“I am merely stating facts. You have killed the centipede. You are well within your rights to claim his land as your own Miko.”

Her smile fell as she stared at him for a second before letting her eyes travel over the gently sloping land. She brought her fingers to her chin for a few minutes and gave him a very goofy look before she dropped her ineffective cadence. She smiled and shifted her body to lay a hand against the smooth trunk of the tree they rested on.

“This is the only thing I want.”

Sesshoumaru merely gazed at her with steady golden eyes.

“Then lay claim to it.”

He was expecting her to pull out a star shaped blade and carved her name into it as he had seen her do before. He stiffened as he felt her spiritual powers rise to her finger tips. Her grin only widened as she laid them flat against the tree. He felt warmth rush up his spine as her powers infused into the living bark. He felt his own power start to rise at her actions, but he forced them down. She had not meant to hurt him, but it was an odd feeling. Warmth erupted down his back where it rested against the tree like a raging surge of sunlight. He could feel the echoes of her breath in the tree as she pulled her hand away.

He watched as a pink petal fell down to the earth between them, glowing pink before the light faded into the soil leaving behind a normal flower and nothing more. This tree would always be hers now. No other would dare touch it. No other would dare to harvest its bounty. It was hers and hers alone. He closed his eyes on the fallen petal as her powers ebbed against his back in a strong steady rhythm. He felt as if the tree were cradling him, easing the stiffness in his shoulders from six nights of straight travel. He felt sleep pull at him again, and he found it entirely too hard to coax away. What he felt as he leaned against the tree was the beat of her heart. He had only learned this because the pace of the warm pulse at his back tripled just as he sensed his brother approaching from the east.

“I wish he would realize that I can handle things on my own especially after today.”

Sesshomaru watched the Miko as she looked to the crest where a hanyou in bright red would soon appear. He gave her the best answer he knew.

“Hn.”

He unfolded himself without his normal ease and began to walk away. Her voice caused him to still. He could almost feel the curiosity in her eyes.

“So how was it? Growing back your arm I mean.”

Of course, as he appraised her, she had appraised him. She had found that the arm at his right was truly his, made of his own blood and bone. He smirked as he looked over his shoulder.

“It… itched.”

The sound of her laughter aided his exit and left his fast approaching half-brother in a confused panic.


	6. Unlikely Council

When she pulled herself out of the well after one week of being back home, she was surprised to find two demons, well one demon and one hanyou, waiting for her. She let her bag fall next to the well as Inuyasha walked over to her with his lips pulled into a tight grimace. He jerked his thumb toward the bored looking Demon Lord behind him.

“He wants to talk to you. He’s been waiting for you for three days. Bastard wouldn’t leave. He thought I wouldn’t give you the message.”

She gave her best friend a smile, “And you would have?”

He scoffed at her but smiled back. “I’ll be at Kaede’s. If he tries anything-”

“He won’t.”

He scowled as he threw a glance over his shoulder at his half brother.

“He had better not if he knows what’s good for him.”

She sighed and swatted Inuyasha away, trying to do the same to the nerves that suddenly crept up on her. Why would Sesshoumaru need to speak with her of all people? And he waited for three days? What was this about? She bowed her head as she came to stand before him trying with all her might to smother the nervous butterflies in her stomach.

“Sesshoumaru-sama.”

He inclined his head slightly to her.

“Miko.”

“Inuyasha said that you’ve been waiting for me?”

His golden eyes narrowed at the mention of his brother.

“I have need of your council.”

She blinked rapidly unsure if she had heard him correctly. He needed to ask her opinion on something. The great Demon Lord of the West wanted her thoughts on some lordly matter.

“Don’t you have already have a council?”

He gave her a look that was appearing quite frequently in her presence, and that he always directed toward her. The look screamed _how dare you imply that I’m unintelligent_.

“You are an unbiased party. Your words are not persuaded by wealth, property, or power.”

“Oh,” well, that made sense, “then what is it that you seek my council for?”

He gestured to the thick grass that grew in the clearing of the bone eater’s well. She immediately held back a sigh. Sitting down meant long conversations. Long conversations meant using time she didn’t really have. Using time she didn’t really have meant dealing with an impatient hanyou that acted more like a bratty six year old child than a half demon. But Sesshoumaru had come to her to ask her for advice, and he was doing it humbly, even going so far as to wait to hear her council. She pulled her legs under her and focused her thoughts on the demon sitting before her.

“The Western Lands exceed into the cold mountains of the North. No one has ever challenged my claim to my lands. No one has ever challenged my rights.”

She was not surprised to see his eyes flash with hostile anger. She knew Sesshoumaru kept them governed and protected. He earned them with blood. He had earned them as the first born son of the Great and Terrible Dog General. She would be pissed too if one of her cousin would take her mother’s pearls away from her. He also kept them with blood. He patrolled continuously.

“That is until the Bear yokai that border my lands in the North thought that my land looked like their land. I quickly rectified their mistake. I took the Bear Lord’s life for his oversight. But under the laws of both our people, all that he owns is now acquired by the House of the Moon.”

Kagome recognized that was the problem Sesshoumaru had to take care of a few months ago. Her elation at figuring out one of the many mysterious pieces that made up the Demon Lord was quickly destroyed when his words began to sink in. She could see where this was going.

“You don’t want to keep anything, but your council does.”

He nodded, “their greed seems to have deepened over the years.”

She laughed at his unhappy scowl, and he eyed her with a honey colored gaze.

A silver eyebrow rose high on his forehead, “it is no laughing matter Miko.”

She stopped her giggles with a throat clearing cough.

“Ah, sorry. Why don’t you want to keep the land, may I ask?”

“I do not want, need, or look forward to patrolling any more land.”

She titled her head to the side, “I thought you liked to travel.”

He folded his arms into the sleeves of his kimono.

“I do not find myself enamored with sub zero temperatures.”

She fought back another giggle with the help of his well timed glare. She was always surprised at how well he could read her and conceive her thoughts and actions before she even realized them.

“And I assume that you’ve made it clear to your council that you have no interest in laying claim to the Bear clan's Northern Lands?”

The I _am no simpleton_ look took hold of his features, but he nodded. Kagome gave a thoughtful sigh as she brought her fingers to her chin. She was drawing a blank here. She didn’t have a clue how to handle demon affairs or how to give sage advice. She went to Kaede for that or her grandpa. Kagome furiously worked her bottom lip between her teeth. She knew that coming to her was a last resort for Sesshoumaru. He would have probably preferred killing all the members of his council and just instating new ones, but the members of the council remained unchanged since his father was the Lord of the House of the Moon. Sesshoumaru had just inherited them along with everything else. Her mind snapped to full attention at her last thought.

“Did the Bear Lord have a successor?”

Sesshoumaru nodded once, “a son younger than me by nine centuries.”

“Does he hold killing his father against you?”

Sesshoumaru tilted his head to the side ever so slightly.

“He mourned his passing, but he was against his father’s will. He does not wish to follow in his footsteps.”

She nodded chewing her lip vigorously as she thought. Minutes ticked by, and she was suddenly stopped from punishing her bottom lip anymore by two stronger fingers held firmly against her mouth.

“Miko.”

She yelped and pulled away blushing madly. She must have looked like a mad women sitting there gnawing away. He gave her a quizzical look before letting his eyes roam over her form, checking her for signs of illness. As his nose twitched. she waved her hands in front of her body.

“Sorry, sorry. It’s a habit. But I think I have a solution to your problem.”

“Go on.”

She took a deep breath.

“There are two options for you. Keep the land, let your council get fat and greedy, and spread yourself thin over two empires.”

A soft growl rose from his chest, and the look she was starting to believe he reserved for her appeared on his face in full force.

She rushed on, “Or you can give the Bear Lord’s son his rightful inheritance back with a tightly bound contract of peace between both countries.”

The space between them was quiet for a second.

“Your second option would cast me in a very unappealing light.”

She shook her head and smiled at him. He had realized the issues she already had a genius answer for.

“Your father tried to attain a peace treaty with the Bear Clan once, but he never was able to convince their lord.”

She could see the curiosity in his eyes. He was wondering where she had heard this tale from, but he wouldn’t ask. She beamed at him when he gave no argument about her reasoning. The bloodsucking flea Myoga was good for something after all! She had gained some beneficial information from his late night bedtime stories of his former master and his sons.

“You would be able to do something your father could not. For that no one would see you as weak, Lord Sesshoumaru.”

She watched as he thought over her words once again before nodding and standing. She pulled herself to her feet and stood in front of him. He bowed his head this time, a small but real bow.

“This has proved to be a commendable visit. I was not expecting to find much if any guidance in your council.”

She frowned at him and his smug words. Her temper got the better of her.

“Well then why did you travel all the way out here and wait for three days for it?”

“A much needed and _deserved_ break.”

He was implying that she didn’t deserve her break. Inuyasha must have told him that she went home to restock supplies and wash her clothes. She glared and poked at the air in front of his chest.

“Well, I’m not done yet. My last piece of advice to you is to fire your present council and get new members. They should be helping you, not me.”

He bowed his head again and walked away but not before she found the barest hint of a dark smirk on his lips. She called out after him.

“I said fire NOT KILL!”

She watched his back as he disappeared into the air on a cloud of smoke. She shook her head and slung her bag over her shoulder and headed for Kaede’s hut. Inuyasha would be waiting for her with a million questions and even more complaints.

 


End file.
